In the beginning
by SisiDraig
Summary: I basically wanted to write Vince and Howard as children - so it's set before series one when Vince and Howard first met when they were much younger. There will be a tiny bit of Howard/Vince because I can never resist .
1. Chapter 1

**After reading other (better) stories about Vince and Howard as children, I quite fancied a go myself :D  
Set before the series one, leading up to how they ended up working their together. This is the first time i've started to post a story before i've finished writing it or atleast planned it to the end, so God know's how it will end up.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own :(**

* * *

"Mum, mum!"

"What is it, darling?"

"Who's that?"

"That's Nick and Cheryl's foster child."

"What's a foster child?"

"Ummm, they're just looking after him for a while, until his mum wants him back."

"Why doesn't his mum want him now?"

"Oh, there may be lots of reasons."

"It's sad that his mum doesn't want him."

"Well, why don't you go and cheer him up? Go over and ask him to play."

"But he'll say no." the boy said quietly, dropping his head "No one ever wants to play with me."

"Rubbish. I bet you're really popular in school."

"No." the boy shook his head. "I think it's this moustache, they all call me Tom Selleck."

"Well, I'm sure they're not trying to be horrible."

"They also steal my pocket money, my snack and that big kid, Donny, he ripped my homework up."

"In that case it would be nice if you went over and said hello. I'm sure he'll be grateful to have a nice friend like you to play with."

"Okay." grinned the boy, running to put on his favourite hat and walking across the street, carefully looking both ways and both ways again (even though they lived in a cul-de-sac and there were never any cars). He bounded across the road went to knock on the door.

A rather stressed looking, thirty-something woman answered the door.

"Oh, Hello Howard." she smiled, blowing upwards to move her fringe out of her eyes. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Howard mumbled "I was wondering if your new foster child would like to come and play with me."

"Oh what a lovely idea. Vincent!" she called.

"What?" came the rather rude reply.

"Howard's here."

"Who the hell is Howard?"

"He's your age and lives across the road. I think you'll be good friends. Why don't you come here and meet him?"

Howard heard the stamping of small feet and then a small boy peered around the woman's side. Cheryl had said they were the same age so this boy must have been ten but he was so small that he looked more like six. The boy had short mousy hair, massive bright blue eyes, a perfectly straight, if rather large, nose and sharp protruding cheekbones. Howard couldn't help but feel that this boys head was too small for his features, but he wasn't ugly. Anyone would tell you there was definitely something about this boy, he had a certain charm that Howard so desperately lacked and Howard liked him, until…

Vince burst into laughter.

"What the hell is that?" he chortled, pointing at Howard's moustache.

"Don't point, Vincent!" warned Cheryl.

"It's Vince." growled the boy "And I'll point if I want too." Vince returned to looking at Howard and smirked

"What you got a caterpillar on your face for?". Howard didn't answer but he could feel himself growing uncomfortable. He knew the rejection that he had feared was coming. Any second now Vince would say he didn't want to hang around with someone who looked like Tom Selleck.

But, to Howard's surprise, Vince stepped out from behind Cheryl, showing off a pair of scuffed black cowboy boots, a grubby white vest and a pair of jeans with a hole in one knee.

"Where we going then Howard?" he asked. Cheryl breathed a sigh of relief and practically pushed Vince out of the door, saying

"Right then, have fun. Be back before tea."

"I'll be back when I want." scowled Vince as the door shut behind him. He turned back to Howard and said "Well?"

"Well, what?" Howard asked nervously.

"Well, where are we going?"

"Umm, wherever you want."

"I was hoping you'd say that" smirked Vince "I fancy some chocolate. You got any money?"

"No, but I could go and get some."

"Nah, it's alright. I'll nick it."

"W-what?" stammered Howard.

"Oh calm down. No one will ever know."

"I'll know."

"You're not going to tell people, are you?"

"W-well, no but…"

"That's okay then." grinned Vince "Come on Harold, let's go."

"It's Howard actually."

"Whatever."

--

"You sure you don't want one?" Vince asked offering the packet of Maltesers to Howard.

"I'm sure." Howard replied. He was sat on the bench wringing his hands nervously.

"Oh chill out." Vince laughed "Anyone would think you were three not ten. Well, actually, they'd probably think you were thirty. What is going on with that moustache?"

"I've had it since I was born" Howard shrugged "Mum says it gives me character."

"In that case you're mums an idiot."

"She's not."

"Awwwww, ickle Howard getting all protective over his mummy."

"Shur'up"

"Oh you're so easy to wind up." laughed Vince, placing a Malteser in the other boys hand.

"I don't want it."

"Just eat it. It tastes amazing, food that's nicked always does."

"Shhhhh. Don't say that, people might hear you."

"There's no one around." Vince laughed, indicating the empty park. "Just eat the damn chocolate."

Howard stared at the chocolate for a long while. "Right," Vince said angrily "Either eat it, or give it back. I don't just share my chocolate with anyone and _nobody _wastes it" Howard looked up into those persuasive blue eyes and popped the Malteser in his mouth. "How's it taste?"

"Mmmm, good."

"Told ya!" Vince grinned proudly.

"How come you're living with Cheryl and Nick then?"

"My mum's a whore."

"A what?"

"A whore."

"What's that?"

"It's a woman who…" and then, seeing an opportunity, Vince smirked and said "It's a woman who is lovely and kind and sweet. I bet your mum's a whore."

"Oh yes, she is. She's the biggest whore in the world." Howard beamed back.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, for the first time ever, Howard was actually excited about school. He was going to have a friend; a friend who knew about things, like how stealing chocolate makes it taste nicer and that whore is another word for kind. And the best part was, Vince was willing to teach Howard everything he knew. Howard would be popular now, he just knew it.

"Goodbye honey, have a nice day." called Howard's mum, waving madly as her son practically skipped through the school gates.

"Where you going Selleck?" asked Donny, putting an arm across Howard's chest to stop him in his tracks. Donny was shorter than Howard but managed to give the impression that he was much taller and much tougher. He was your typical school bully and his short temper was feared by the everyone. He would tear you to pieces if you so much looked at him in the wrong way. But most people were safe from Donny's sharp tongue when Howard was around, because when Howard was around all of Donny's attention was focused on tormenting the tall boy geeky boy with the moustache.

"I'm just going over here." Howard stammered, indicating an area behind him.

"I don't think so." laughed one of Donny's minions popping up right behind Howard and pushing him sharply in the back so that he stumbled awkwardly into Donny.

"I don't want any trouble." Howard said in a barely audible squeak.

"Course not, just give me your money and I'll let you go." sneered Donny. Howard nodded, nervously fumbling round in his pocket for the dinner money he'd been given that morning.

"Back off loser." came a voice from behind Howard making him jump violently. Assuming this voice was talking to him, Howard span round nervously and was surprised to see Vince. The small boy had a strange, not quite sane, look in his eye. He was glaring straight at Donny, his eyebrows knitting together furiously, as he pushed the sleeves of his jumper up his skinny arms, clearly preparing for a fight.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Donny, turning his attention to the new face.

"I'm Vince Noir."

"Vince Noir?" Donny said, his face contorting as he tried to remember why he knew that name "the geezer without any parents, yeah?"

"Yeah." Vince replied eerily calm.

"No mum to tuck you in at night. No dad to play football with you in the yard. No family at all."

"Yeah, that's me." Vince continued, seemingly unaffected by Donny's comments. "Though, there is one good thing about having no family."

"Oh?"

"No rules." Vince grinned, launching himself at the unsuspecting bully. The two boys crashed to the floor, legs and arms flying everywhere. Donny was clearly the bigger of the two boys but it was obvious to everyone watching that there was only going to be one winner. Vince had quick fists and the composure of a boy who'd gotten into a lot of fights over his time and was soon sat on Donny's chest, expertly pummelling the boy in front of him as the bully squirmed and begged for release.

"Vince." hissed Howard "The teacher's coming." at that, Vince leapt up and shoved another boy hard, so that he landed heavily on Donny, before running away dragging Howard after him. By the time the teacher arrived at the fight scene, he was convinced that the boy Vince had pushed was the one who had started the fight and refused to be told anything different.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Vince laughed, panting heavily leaning against a wall at the far side of the school yard.

"mmm."

"Lighten up Howard. No one's going to find out it was me that punched him. You've got to learn to trust me more."

"Mmm.""What's wrong?"

"I told my mum she was a whore last night."

"You what?" chortled Vince, before regaining his composure and asking casually "What did she say?"

"She said that it's a naughty word and that if I say it again I'll be in big trouble. Then she took my saxophone off me for a week."

"Well, that's a good thing, surely?"

"I love my saxophone."

"But it sounds awful."

"How would you know?""All brass musical instruments do."

"It's a wind instrument actually."

"Whatever, you wanna listen to this." Vince said, pulling a walkman from his bag and handing it to Howard. "Good init?"

"It's making my ears hurt. What is it?"

"Cars by Gary Numan."

"It's rubbish."

"Take that back!"

"No way!"

"Take it back or I'll snap your arm off." Howard looked at the strange expression in Vince's eyes and had a horrible feeling that Vince meant it so gabbled quickly

"I take it back. Gary Numan is amazing."

"He is." agreed Vince "One day, I'm going to capture him and trap him in a cupboard. It'll be genius."

"Umm, okay." Howard said, a little freaked out by this announcement.

Just then the school bell rang.

"So, Howard what d'you fancy doing?""What are you talking about? That was the bell we have to go to lessons."

"We don't_ have_ to go, the school bell is more of a suggestion. Let's go to the zoo instead."

"But…"

"Come on. I love animals."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can talk to em."

"Really?" Howard said sceptically. He didn't know whether or not to trust Vince after the whole 'whore' fiasco.

"Yeah, come on. I'll show you." Vince grinned pulling at Howard's arm. "We'll cut across this field, I recon we'll be there in no time." Howard looked guiltily at the school and then at the face of his new found friend, those seemingly innocent blue eyes gazing up at him.

"Okay then," agreed Howard "Let's go to the zoo."

"Nice one Howard!" exclaimed Vince, clambering through a small hole in the fence and taking off across the field. It took Howard a little longer to get through the gap but eventually he was chasing after the small boy, the wind rushing past his ears, the smell of grass wafting up his nose, the adrenline pounding through him, he'd never felt so alive. Vince was a lot quicker that Howard (who had no co-ordination when it came to exercise) and so would hopping about impatiently every time they reached a corner, to wait for Howard to catch up, shouting things like

"Come on slow coach!" Then as Howard got near he'd tear off again; up a hill or down a back alley or over a bridge leaving Howard sprinting to keep up. Eventually they arrived.

"You got any money?" hissed Vince, looking at the prices on a board.

"I've" -pant- "got" -pant- "two" -pant- "pounds"

"That's not enough, no worries. We'll have to sneak in." Vince looked around carefully biting his lip with concentration. "Oh perfect." he beamed, as a middle aged couple walked up to the counter. "Follow my lead." and with that Vince skipped off to stand by the couple. Howard followed obediently and stood next to Vince wondering what this estranged boy was up to.

"Good morning." said the girl behind the counter, "Four of you, is it?"

"Four?!" exclaimed the husband "No just two."

"Well what about them?" the girl laughed indicating Vince and Howard.

"I don't know who they are." the man said.

"Oh daddy, you're so funny." beamed Vince.

"Daddy!?" the man cried "I'm not your daddy I don't know who you are."

"B-b-but daddy." Vince began to sob, producing tears that were rolling down his cheeks. "You promised we could go to the zoo, you promised."

"I'm not your dad." the man said, he was shuffling embarrassedly now as Vince's display began to draw the attention of the rest of the queue.

"You promised! Just like last week you promised to take us to the… umm." Vince stopped, he couldn't think of a place, he looked at Howard, urging him to step in.

"Jazz museum!" Howard blurted out. Vince visibly groaned, but quickly returned to crying and stamping his feet shouting.

"But, you promised. You promised!" Everyone was starting to stare by now and many of them were tutting and saying things like 'it's terrible that parent's can do that to their kids'.

Minutes later, Vince and Howard were wandering happily around the zoo.

"I can't believe you did that." said Howard in a way that suggested he was half disgusted and half admiring.

"It worked didn't it." laughed Vince licking a lolly he'd swiped from the café by the entrance.

"Well, yes b-"

"So stop complaining. Oh look Howard." Vince laughed, pointing at a fluorescent pink sign "there's a porpoise derby in ten minutes. Can we go?"

"Yeah, definitely." Howard said excitedly, "I've never seen a porpoise derby."

--

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, please give it up for the porpoise derby" the rusted tannoy sounded. Vince cheered and jumped up and down. Howard just clapped, like everyone else. "Please welcome to the pool; Joey Moose and his porpoise Mr Jefferson"

Loud cheers rang out.

"Robert Fossil and his porpoise Babyblueblanketbaby."

Clapping and shouting.

"Naboo the enigma and his porpoise Kitkat."

A particularly loud cheer rang out and Vince said "I like him, look at his turban. He looks like a puma in a wig."

"And finally, please welcome Tommy and his porpoise Cheese."

Howard just stared. He'd never seen a man like it. Tommy had small knowing eyes, he was tall with a moustache (just like Howard's). He looked strong and impressive, like Howard imagined princes looked in fairytales. He was a true man of action; a pioneer, a maverick.

"I bet he's so wise." murmured Howard.

"What was that?" Vince asked, not taking his eyes off the starter gun.

"Nothing, who d'you think will win?"

"The bloke with the turban. He's a wizard, I recon he'll zap everyone else and storm to a wonderful victory."

"I think Tommy will win."

"What that one with the wide head?"

"His head's not that wide!" retorted Howard

"Alright, calm down." laughed Vince "He wont win anyway, his porpoise looks ill, maybe it's allergic to water."

--

Vince beamed up at Howard.

"Wizard man won."

"Yeah, I noticed." Howard scowled, still watching Tommy carefully as the man pulled himself out of the pool.

"I told you Tommy's porpoise looked ill. I didn't expect it to sneeze like that though. I didn't realise you could sneeze so hard you actually fire backwards. He was winning too and then... aitchoo" Vince faked sneezing and flying backwards.

"I know. I saw it." Howard frowned, eyes still fixed on his new hero.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"You looking at Tommy?" Howard went red, but said nothing. "You are." Vince giggled, "I bet you fancy him."

"Get lost, he's a man! I just think he's cool."

"He's not cool. He's old."

"I'm going to go and say hi."

"Don't bother. Come on, I want to go to the penguin enclosure."

"Okay, well I'll meet you there."

"No! Come now." snapped Vince.

"I'll just be a minute." Howard said, seemingly unaware of how annoyed Vince was.

Vince watched as his friend ran (looking more enthusiastic than Vince had ever seen him) towards Tommy. He watched Howard chatting away for hours, watched the boy nod and laugh and smile as Tommy told him about life at the zoo and as a porpoise jockey; watched as Vince felt something that felt a lot like jealousy bubbling up inside him.

--

"Vince, talk to me." Howard moaned. They were on their way home from the zoo and so far Vince hadn't said a word. "Look, I'm sorry we didn't get to see the penguins, don't be upset."

"I'm not upset." Vince spat back. Howard looked surprised to find that Vince had spoken and looked down at the small boy. Vince was right, he didn't look upset he just looked wild. There was something missing in his eyes, he looked like he wasn't quite all there, as though his mind was somewhere else.

"Look, we can come back tomorrow."

"I don't think we will." Vince said in the same creepy calm way he'd spoken to Donny earlier.

"Won't we? Where we going to go tomorrow then?"

"_We__'__re_ not going anywhere. I don't know where _I__'__m_ going yet."

"Why can't I come?"

"I only invite people who are actually going to spend time with me, not people who are going to spend there time with some wide-headed, boring, old fart."

"I'm sorry," said Howard "You should have said if you were bored."

"I did, you ignored me."

"Oh." Howard fell silent.

"I'm kinda tired, I think I'm going to go home."

"You're going home, but are you really going home?" Howard asked, beaming proudly

"What the hell was that?! Was it a dig at me because I'm a foster kid, is that it?!"

"No, no." Howard said looking horrified. "It was something Tommy taught me, maybe I didn't use it right."

"Argh!" Vince screamed storming off quickly down the road.

"Vince, Vince? Come back. I'm sorry." Howard called after him, but the smaller boy was gone and he wasn't coming back. That was the last time Howard saw Vince for a very long time and the next time they met it was under very different circumstances and Howard hardly recognised him.

Howard had gone to call for Vince the next morning so they could walk to school together, but Cheryl told him that Vince had gone back to the home. So, Howard had innocently assumed that his mother had taken him back and it wasn't until a year or two later he discovered the truth.

* * *

**Okay, so it's a bit of a ridiculous long chapter - sorry - but i couldn't find a good place to stop. Also, it might take a while for me to be able to put up the next chapter cause I got SO much stuff on - ARGH! lol.**

**Reviews are loved by me (and tiny imps that live in sweedish mountains, apparently)  
Sisi...xx**


	3. Chapter 3

That night, Vince had sat awake, cross legged in the middle of the bed until he had been sure that Cheryl and Nick were asleep. When the house had fallen silent he'd slid quietly off the covers and had grabbed a flashlight from his draw. He'd crept downstairs into the kitchen, to pick up his bag, before disappearing out the back door.

It hadn't taken long for Vince to get there, at least it hadn't felt like long, but he had been so angry that he'd become completely oblivious to time. He'd soon come to the large iron gates and had looked for a way to break in. There had been a hedge near the entrance, which he'd decided he could push his way through. The hedge had been very wide and the branches had been very sharp. They'd scraped along his back. They'd ripped into his t-shirt. They'd jabbed him in the face. But he had been so high on angry adrenaline that he didn't feel any pain and any common sense seemed to have seeped out of him. So he had pushed on. When he'd emerged on the other side he had been covered with bruises and tiny cuts and his hair had been full of leaves but he hadn't cared. He'd been too focused on the goal. Nothing was going to stop him that night.

Vince had flicked on the flashlight and had strained his eyes in the darkness looking for the green hut where _he _lived. He had known _he _lived there, Howard had said. Howard had spoken about him a lot on their walk home and Vince had hated it. Vince had always known what happened when people meet new friends; they got rid of their old ones. Just like his mum had, when she'd had her new child; she'd got rid of her old one, the one she was bored with. He hadn't wanted Howard to become bored with him. Howard had been his favourite play thing, and deep down Vince liked the gullible geek. Even though he'd only known him a day, he'd felt closer to Howard than anyone else he'd ever met since he'd been taken in to care.

The small boy had walked around the zoo, fearlessly exploring the places marked 'staff only' until he'd found the green hut. It had looked small and cramped. It had had horrible flowery curtains and a wooden floor, wooden walls , the whole thing was made of wood.

"Perfect." Vince had sneered to himself before opening up his bag and reaching inside. He had pulled out a box of matches and had lit one, then a second, then a third (just to be sure) and had held them against the hut until the large shed had caught alight.

Vince had stepped back to admire his work. He'd watched the flames lick at the windows and uncurling up the walls. He'd watched the smoke billowing up into the dark sky. It had seemed to Vince as though the smoke and fire were dancing; bright and beautifully destructive. Vince had watched it carefully and grinned, to him it had been more wondrous than a sunrise.

Suddenly, the door of the hut had burst open and Vince had jumped violently as Tommy had emerged from the smoke coughing and spluttering. Tommy had looked up and seen Vince stood rooted to the spot and had charged towards him shouting

"Oi you. What do you think you're doing?"

Vince had thought quickly, he always had when it came to avoiding getting caught. He had looked around and he'd seen an open double door. As an unsuspecting Tommy had closed in on him Vince had shoved the running man through the double door (which seemed to lead to a large forest) with unexplainable ease and had slammed the door shut. He had locked it quickly and had run away before anyone else had noticed the fire.

Vince had arrived back at Cheryl and Nick's house and had flopped onto his bed his heart pounding furiously in his chest. Then, with no warning, he began to laugh hysterically. He laughed and laughed until his stomach had hurt and his cheeks had ached. Then he had slid under his covers and had fallen into a peaceful sleep. He'd dreamt of life without Tommy. Howard wouldn't have been able to spend stupid amounts of time talking to or about him. The deed had been done. Life would've been good.

In the early hours of the next morning, the police had arrived at Cheryl and Nick's house with Vince's black bag in their hand's. In seemed that in Vince's haste to get away he'd forgotten about it. He'd been taken to the police station and cautioned. They had spoken to him for what felt like hours about the possible consequences of his actions and he listened to everything the police had said. When they had finished he'd waited patiently for Cheryl or Nick to come and pick him up and take him home - but they had never arrived.

Instead, a stern looking woman had appeared to take him back to the home. It seemed that Cheryl and Nick, on seeing the police on their doorstep, had decided that they couldn't cope with this delinquent of a foster child.

"Can I go and say goodbye?" Vince had asked when the woman had bundled him in to the back seat of the car.

"To be honest, I'm not sure Nick or Cheryl want to see you."

'_Typical_' Vince thought '_No one likes me. No one ever want__'__s me around, except__…__Howard._'

"Not to them, you daft cow! I wanna say goodbye to Howard."

"No Vince, you can't we've got to go now." and then noticing the disappointed look on the boys face, she added "I'm sorry Vincent, but you do bring it on yourself."

It was at that moment, as he was driven away from another wasted opportunity at family life, that Vince Noir had made a promise to himself; he was going to change. From that moment on he was going to make himself liked. He'd be popular, loved by everyone. Everyone would like him, everyone would want to be friends with him, most people would want to _be_ him. He'd do anything it took, everything it took. People _would_ like him.


	4. Chapter 4

Six years later.

It was a cold afternoon, the fog was creeping in and Howard Moon shivered violently as he made his way home. Picking his path carefully, he tried to avoid the puddles and icy patches that were littered perilously across the pavement, before turning into an alleyway that ran behind the local Starbucks. He hugged his coat around him as the cold, damp darkness of the alley closed in on him. Howard felt a little anxious. He walked home this way everyday but it wasn't usually this murky or, more importantly, dark.

Just then, Howard heard a shuffling behind him. He looked over his shoulder but he couldn't see anything, so he walked on. The shuffling sounded again. Howard stopped, so did the shuffling.

'_Maybe I__'__m just imagining things_' he thought, shaking his head and walking on. The shuffling returned, louder this time, closer. Howard span round in time to see a shadowy figure launch towards him and Howard found himself shoved against the wall, with something cold and sharp pressed into his back.

"Give me your money." growled the man, dragging the knife up Howard's spine.

"Please. Don't hurt me," Howard whimpered, shaking violently "I've got so much to give."

"I won't hurt you." said the thief, almost kindly, and then as though remembering the situation he dug the knife deeper into Howard's neck and added "_if _you give me your money." The knife wasn't pressing hard enough to draw blood but Howard was still convinced he was going to die. But he tried to keep as calm as he could, he knew these London muggers didn't always kill their victims.

"M-my m-money's in m-my front pocket." he stammered.

"Get it out then."

"Ummmm, well, I can't my pocket's pressed against the wall."

"Oh. Um, right, course it is." the aggressor faltered, stepping back. "Right, you've got some room, now get it out then." he hissed. Howard couldn't help but feel that there was something in the thief's voice that suggested he was a little nervous about the situation too.

Howard turned around slowly and faced the thief. He'd expected to see a tall, burley man maybe with a beard and a beer belly or at least a few tattoo's or something that made him look even slightly threatening. So the sight that greeted him almost made him faint with shock.

The thief him and had long mousy brown hair with lot's of blonde highlights and a black fringe. He was wearing a flamboyant, brightly coloured t-shirt, very tight jeans and a pair of white cowboy boots. He was shorter than Howard but he must have been about the same age and there was something strangely familiar about this boy's mesmerising, oversized blue eyes. He had razor sharp cheekbones, quite a large, crooked nose and an almost gaunt look, which may have been down to the fact that the thief's mouth was hanging open.

"Oh my god! It's you!" he gasped

"Huh?"

"Howard. You _are_ Howard, right?"

Howard nodded slowly.

"You haven't changed a bit." the thief grinned. Howard searched the thief's face for some clue as to who he was. "You don't recognise me, do you?" the thief grinned. "Howard, it's me… Vince!"

Suddenly, it all came flooding back to Howard. He remembered the day at the zoo with the only friend he'd ever had. He'd found Vince… after all this time. He wanted to cheer, or hug him, or something, but all he could say was

"Why the hell are you mugging people?"

--

"Here you are." Howard said, putting a cup of coffee in front of Vince and sitting down opposite.

"Thanks." smiled Vince. "I still can't believe this. My first mugging and it's you. What are the chances, eh?"

"Hmm. Why _are _you mugging people, Vince?" Howard asked, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"I ain't got any money." Vince shrugged.

"So, get a job."

"Where? No one will take me on. I'm not very good in school and I did try to burn down a zoo, remember. No one want's to take on a thick kid with a criminal record."

"Well, it can't help that you walk around with a knife." Howard said, nervously eyeing the pocket that Vince kept his knife in.

"Yeah. Well, when you dress like me, you've got to have a way to protect yourself."

"So don't dress like that."

"This is my look. You don't just mess with a look like this. Anyway, when I dress like this I feel most comfortable."

"You've changed a lot since I last saw you." Howard said, looking over Vince's extravagant outfit, his eyes being drawn quickly to Vince's crooked nose.

"One too many fights in the foster home." Vince explained, a grin playing across his oddly handsome features.

"Did you get fostered again?"

"Yeah, I've been living with Brian Ferry in a forest for the last five years. From foster child to forest child, eh?" he chuckled "Brian was a really good foster dad, though. He didn't get rid of me if I was ever a bit difficult. He straightened me out a bit too. I could never be cheeky to Brian."

"He couldn't have straightened you out much if you're mugging."

"Give me a break, yeah? I said it was my first time. I was desperate and starving. You can't just catch an antelope in the centre of London you know. It was all so much easier in the forest."

"If you liked it so much, why aren't you still there?"

"I've come to London to become a rock star."

"Can you sing?"

"Can I sing?! I'm one of the great front men: Freddy Mercury, Axl Rose, Vince Noir. That's what they'll say."

"Oh right." Howard laughed. "Sorry, I didn't realise."

Vince grinned back. "You still playing the saxophone?"

"Yeah, I'm a multi-instrumentalists. I can play everything."

"Cool."

"Oh yes, sir. In fact, I had an epiphany the other day when I was in a jazz club."

"What's an epiphany?"

"It's like an awaking, I discovered my true identity."

"Wow. What happened?"

"Well, I wasn't very good but the other day I met a jazz expert called Howling Jimmy Jefferson and now I can play anything you want."

"Can you play electro?" Vince asked excitedly.

"Yes, but I wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's rubbish."

"It's not." exclaimed Vince. "It's the best genre of music there is. It's the only genre of music there is."

"Nonsense!" cried Howard, "You need to listen to jazz."

"Jazz, oh no! Please tell me that's some kind of joke."

"Not at all, it's free and loose and…"

"freakish? I bet you've got no friends." Vince laughed. Howard turned bright red and looked straight at his feet. "Oh," Vince breathed "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I'm sure people love you…"

"Yeah, well." Howard mumbled, looking at his watch "I should probably get going. I'm never this late home from work."

"Ooooo work. Where do you work?"

"The zoo." Howard replied embarrassedly, standing up so quickly he almost knocked the chair over.

"Oh." Vince said dropping his head too. "Is it okay? You know since I…"

"Yeah, It's fine. Naboo the shaman fixed it. There was no damage, though Tommy's been missing ever since." Seeing Vince's horrified face Howard added "He didn't die in the fire though. It's not your fault."

"Yeah." Vince said, quickly changing the subject "Can I walk back with you?"

"Umm, yeah I guess." Howard said, holding the door to the café open.

"Cool." Vince stood up and Vince walked through. The boys walked back to the Moon household laughing and chatting away happily.

As they reached the gate Howard stopped suddenly and turned to face the flamboyantly dressed boy. He looked awkwardly from Vince to his house and back again.

"It's good to see you Vince. Really, it is."

"It's great seeing you too." Vince smiled, then after a while he saw the problem. "You don't want your parents to see me do you?"

"No, it's not that."

"It is." Vince said knowingly, "You don't want them to see you with a knife carrying criminal, but I'm not like that really. See." he said chucking the knife into the bin. "I'm not like I used to be. I'm popular now. Hey! It's my mate Leroy's birthday tomorrow and there's a house party down at East Tram Gardens. You should come."

"Oh I don't know if…"

"Please come Howard," Vince almost begged "I'd like to see you there. I don't wanna lose touch again."

"Well, um…"

"I tell you what, come down at around 10pm and I'll meet you by the big sign at the entrance to the estate, it's huge you can't miss it. And then we'll walk to the party together. What d'you think?"

Howard looked down at the skinny mod and, just like when they were ten, he was completely taken in by those shining eyes and charming smile.

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Excellent." grinned Vince, throwing his arms around Howard's neck. The taller boy hugged him back. Howard liked hugging people, it made him feel safe inside, made him feel loved. He'd always been a little needy like that. As Vince pulled away Howard said "Have you got somewhere to stay tonight?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine." Vince grinned "Don't you worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow yeah."

"Okay."

Howard watched as Vince bounced off down the road. He could tell Vince still had a slightly crazy streak but he seemed calmer now, more innocent, less likely to hurt people. Maybe, this was the real Vince finally breaking out whereas before, thug-Vince was just protection to stop from getting hurt. But one thing hadn't changed, Vince still had _it_ - whatever _it_ was; that unexplainable force which draws you towards him and makes you like him.

* * *

**Okay, firstly: I****'****m useless with animals and where they live. Antelope don****'****t live in forests in Britain but hey neither do cobra****'****s or leopards (as found in the Hitcher episode) so I figured it wouldn****'****t matter too much!**

**Secondly: My great front men; Freddy Mercury is undisputable and Axl Rose is my favourite front man so I put him in too.**

**Hope you're enjoying it!  
Sisi...xx**


	5. Chapter 5

Howard arrived at the sign at 9.45pm. Well, he didn't want to miss Vince, did he? Though he needn't have worried, Vince didn't turn up until 10.20, holding a bottle of Bacardi in one hand and a WKD in the other.

"Which d'you want?" Vince asked brightly, holding up both bottles to Howard.

"Neither, I don't drink alcohol"

"Shut up! None at all?" moaned Vince. Howard shook his head. "Awwww, go on." the tipsy boy urged "Just one… let yourself go."

"I'm quite happy staying sober thank you."

"Suit yourself." shrugged Vince, taking a swig from each bottle "You coming?"

Howard nodded and followed Vince back along the road towards the party.

It was easy to tell which house was Leroy's. They had 'Planet Rock' blasting through the speakers, so loud that the house was shaking. There were people dancing on the street, on the cars and on the walls. A few were throwing up in the plant pots and some were throwing up in other people's hats.

"Wahooooo." cried a boy as he ran into the middle of the garden and emptied a bottle of vodka into his mouth, most of it spilling down his chin and into his hair. Howard shuddered and grabbed at Vince's jacket sleeve for protection.

"Watch it." moaned Vince "New coat."

"Sorry" Howard said, releasing his grip and shuffling so close to Vince that he was pressed against the smaller boys shoulder.

"Oh for god sake Howard." giggled Vince, handing his bottle of WKD to a pretty girl, who took it happily. Just then, 'Don't you want me baby' started up and Vince almost jumped with excitement. "I _love _this song." he laughed grabbing Howard's hand and dragging him, rather reluctantly, into the house "Come on."

In the house, things were even worse. The music was louder and Howard's ears were pounding against his skull. There were lustful teenagers on every side, rubbing up against each other, kissing passionately or toppling over one another to get to the cramped living to dance as provocatively as they could manage. Vince seemed completely at home in this situation but as he was pulled through this jungle of hormonal teens, Howard felt he'd never felt so uncomfortable or so alone.

"VINCE!" someone bellowed over the music.

"LEROY!" Vince shouted back, as a tall blonde boy wearing similar over-the-top clothes to Vince, dived on Vince hugging him tight.

"Who's your friend?" Leroy beamed.

"Oh, this is Howard. Howard, Leroy"

"Alright Howard."

"Hello, umm, happy birthday." Howard shouted, feeling very awkward.

"Oh, thanks mate! Where's my present?"

"Ummm."

"I'm joshing ya." laughed Leroy, giving Howard a friendly but hard smack on the shoulder. "You brought Vince, that's all the present I need. I was worried you weren't coming." He continued turning to the smaller of the two boys "You know it's no party without you."

"Ah, you're too kind." laughed Vince, "Just point me in the direction of the alcohol."

Leroy pointed towards the kitchen and Vince danced off into the crowds to find it, Howard, not knowing what else to do, chased after Vince like a frightened puppy.

--

Howard looked at his watch, 11.30. '_Well, at least the party would be over soon_.' Howard naively thought. It was well past his bedtime and he already felt as though he'd spent half his life in this uncomfortable and slightly disturbing situation. He wanted to go home but something was keeping him here, some invisible force, well, maybe not invisible.

Howard peered through the crowds of dancing people, he knew Vince was in there somewhere but he had no idea where. '_Probably right in the middle' _he thought. As the crowds parted slightly, Howard had a clear view of Vince and, as always, the moustached boy was completely transfixed. Vince was dancing like his life depended on it. Everyone was watching him and Howard couldn't blame them he looked so… sexy. No, surely he hadn't just thought that, but there was no other way to describe it. Vince looked gorgeous and Howard just stared at him, until a fat girl moved into his view. Howard snapped out of his daze feeling incredibly embarrassed.

After that unnerving experience, Howard decided it was time to leave. It's wasn't as though like Vince would noticed anyway. He pushed his way down the corridor, shuffling between couples and dancers, until he was outside in the cold, refreshing air. He pulled his jacket around him and began to walk quickly away from the nightmare house.

"Howard!" someone shouted from behind him. No not someone, Vince. No one else at that party knew (or cared) what his name was. Howard span round to see Vince tottering quickly but uneasily towards him.

"Howarrrd!" he slurred "Why you leaving? D'you not like parties?"

"Ummm, no not really Vince."

"Vinsh. That's my name." Vince laughed reaching to lean heavily on Howard's shoulder. As the hand landed on his shoulder, Howard shivered as a tingle of excitement ran up his spine.

"Yes it is. You're Vince." Howard said, feeling completely at a loss at what to do.

"You're Vince? No, you're not Vince. You're Howard. I'm Vince."

"You're drunk."

"Just a teenie-weenie bit." Vince said, taking his hand from Howard's shoulder to indicate a small amount between his thumb and finger, before promptly flopping forward so that Howard had to catch him.

"You know what," Vince said, leaning his chin against Howard's chest and looking up and the taller boy with big innocent puppy dog eyes. "I missed you when I went back to the home, you know. I really liked you. You were my friend. Are we friends now?"

"Of course."

"Good. You know Howard. I wish you would dance with me."

"There's no music."

"The music is in here." Vince said, pointing clumsily to Howard's head "And here" he said, thumping Howard chest.

"Just move to the music in your soul. Unless it's jazz. Errr." Vince giggled, screwing up his face adorably. "You know what Howard?"

"What?"

"You're quite handsome in this light." Howard felt himself flush, his face burnt bright red, but Vince didn't seem to notice and continued "But you're quite handsome in every light. That's why I mugged you. I thought you had a nice arse." Howard went even redder, still steadying the drunk boy as he snaked his arms around Howard's neck and pulled the taller boy down towards him until their noses touched.

"What are you doing Vince?" Howard squeaked nervously.

"Even Leroy said you had something about you." Vince continued.

"He did?"

"He did." Vince grinned, playing with Howard's hair gently, "But I told him to back off because you're here with me. You are here with me, aren't you Howard?"

"Well, I… um, er, yeah I guess so." That was all Vince needed to hear and he closed the gap, kissing Howard hard. Howard felt himself melt into the moment. He didn't know what to make of it, what was going on? Was that gorgeous creature from the dance floor kissing him? But wait, he wasn't gay, was he? No, of course he wasn't. He liked that serpent woman at the zoo, Mrs Gideon. She was the perfect woman, wasn't she? Probably, but maybe Vince was the perfect man and maybe _that _was what he wanted.

As Vince broke away, he giggled uncontrollably and said "You're a good kisser Howard."

"Umm, thanks." Howard said uneasily, feeling confused and stupid.

"You sure you've got to go?" Vince pouted.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Okay." Vince said looking disappointed, "I'll see you soon though, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Okay, Bye."

Howard watched Vince half skip half stagger back towards the house and felt a pang of jealousy as a girl slipped her arm through his, handing him another WKD and steering him back towards the dancing.

--

Howard didn't sleep that night, he just kept playing the entire conversation with Vince over and over in his head and then… that kiss, that wonderful, perfect kiss. Howard's first kiss.

For two days, Howard walked everywhere with a big, daft grin on his face and refused to tell anybody why. After a week though, he began to worry. He hadn't spoken to or seen Vince since that night and he really needed to know what the situation was between them.

Two weeks passed and Howard still hadn't heard anything. He'd even begun to worry if Vince was okay. Was he lying in a ditch somewhere? Who would know if he was? As far as Howard could tell Vince was crashing on people's sofa's, floor's or on the street. No one would worry if they didn't see him for a while. Howard began to feel sick with worry and he thought he saw Vince every where he looked, but it was never him. Never.

**What can I say I can never resist a bit of Howince?! (lol)**

**Also, just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who's read this so far... you're all loved!!  
And also to everyone who's reviewed! You're opinions, thoughts and comments are always so wonderful and supportive! (and look at me i'm gushing, how embarrasing?)  
Sisi...xx**


	6. Chapter 6

Almost a month after the party, Howard was cleaning out the ape enclosure at the zoo for the hundredth time that morning. The zoo's owner, Dixon Bainbridge, was coming for a zoo inspection and the manager, Bob Fossil, was having some kind of panic attack as he rushed around trying to make everything perfect. At this moment in time he was yelling at an elephant.

"Why wont you stop crapping?! I get your cage cleaned up ready for Bainbridge and you create more faeces! What is wrong with you? Have you got baked beans for brains? No, seriously. Have you? I don't know."

Howard sighed loudly, he did enjoy working at the zoo but he couldn't help think that the whole place would be greatly improved if Tommy was back in charge. Tommy had been wise and smart and Howard just knew that Tommy would have run the zoo the way it should have been run.

"Hey Howard." said a small voice from the other side of the railings. "You okay?"

"Vince?" Howard whispered, almost like a prayer. That voice sounded so like Vince's. Those boots, which Howard could see in the corner of his eye, looked so like the kind of thing Vince would wear but h didn't want to get his hopes up… again. He thought he'd seen Vince everywhere in the last few weeks but it had always turned out to be a young woman, or a drag queen. He turned around slowly and came face to face with the skinny electro boy.

"Oh thank god." Howard almost shouted, then turned bright red and said "I, erm, I mean… I haven't seen you since Leroy's party, weeks ago. Where've you been? I was worried about you."

"You were?" Vince asked, smiling prettily "No one ever worries about me. I just go off all the time, no one ever cares." Howard shuffled his feet embarrassedly. "So," Vince continued "Leroy's party, was it good?"

"You were there." frowned Howard.

"Yeah, I know." Vince grinned "But I don't remember anything about it."

"Nothing?" Howard asked weakly.

"Nope, I must have been so drunk! I've never misplaced an entire night before. I've seen some pictures of me though, my hair was a mess by the end of the night. All out here, and full of vodka, it's taken me this long to get it back to normal. Did you drink?"

"Ummm, no."

"Great, you can fill be in on what happened then. Jog my memory."

"Umm, actually I left really early. You were just dancing." Howard lied. On the outside he was managing to stay calm but inside, he was falling apart. Vince didn't remember! The greatest moment of Howard's life and Vince didn't even know it had happened. Howard couldn't believe it, this was just his luck.

"So, how come you're here then?" Howard asked as light heartedly as he could manage. "I mean, I see nothing of you for a month and then you just arrive at my work."

"Ah, yeah. Thing is Howard, I've really messed up." Vince admitted "And I really needed someone I can rely on and I don't know why, but I thought of you. I know we don't know each other that well, but I kinda I feel safe with you. That probably sounds stupid, but you were sorta the first friend I ever had, even it was only for a day." Vince chuckled, then becoming quite solemn and asked "Have you got time for a chat?"

"Ummm, of course. But I _am_ supposed to be cleaning out Bollo here. He said indicating the huge ape."

"Oh, hey Bollo." Vince grinned. Bollo said something, which to Howard sounded like grunts and groans but Vince seemed to be listening intently.

"You sure?" the long hair boy asked. Bollo grunted again. "Can you do all that?" More grunting "Alright, I was only checking. Thanks Bollo, you're fantastic." Vince beamed, turning to face Howard.

"What was that?" frowned the taller boy.

"Bollo says he'll clean up the rest of it and put it in bags and stuff and then you can just take it to the bins after you've finished talking to me. He also says you never clean it thoroughly enough anyway." Bollo grunted, angrily this time. Vince laughed and added "and apparently, you're constant humming of jazz drives him mad."

"What's he like then?"

"Jagger, Bowie." Vince grinned, "He's a pretty cool ape." Bollo nodded enthusiastically.

"Hang on a minute." Howard gasped "is he nodding?"

"yeah."

"You can actually talk to animals?"

"Yeah, I told you I could. Did you think I was making that conversation up?"

Well… yeah." Howard admitted "I thought it was your strange sense of humour and you _have_ told me a ton of things that turned out not to be true. Can you blame be for not trusting you?"

"I suppose. Sorry." Vince smiled apologetically, "But the animal thing is cool, right? I'm like Mogley in flares."

"Yeah, with a talent like that, you should come and work in the zoo."

"Are you for real? What about school? GCSE's?"

"GCSE's aren't important."

"Well that's good because I've been expelled, that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Expelled?! How? Why?"

"Ummm," Vince looked uncharacteristically embarrased "I kinda, got caught, sorta sleeping with the headmasters daughter in the his office." Vince finished quickly, his words merging together, but it didn't stop each one cutting through Howard like a knife. Vince had slept with someone, a girl. He obviously didn't like boys and he certainly didn't like Howard. Inside, Howard felt something was breaking and he realised bitterly that he had completely fallen for this tiny electro poof standing in front of him.

"Well you got what you deserved." Howard replied resentfully.

"I know." Vince sighed, hanging his head. "I didn't even like her that much, it was more for the thrill than anything, you know."

"Right." Howard said. He felt awkward and slightly sick.

"But if I could come and work here that would be genius!" Vince continued brightly "You'd like that, wouldn't you Mr Bollo?" The ape nodded again. "D'you think you could get me a job Howard?"

Howard looked at Vince, and like so many times before he gave in to that beautiful pleading smile.

"Of course I could."

"And you're boss wont mind?"

"As long as you don't mind working long hours for virtually no money."

"Ahh! You're the best!" Vince squealed throwing his arms round Howard's neck.

"Woah there." Howard said pushing the excitable boy away "Don't touch me, don't ever touch me." Howard didn't think he could cope if Vince was constantly hugging him. It would be too painful and Howard couldn't trust his own emotions.

"Ahhh, grumpy." Vince grinned, punching the taller boy lightly on the shoulder. "This is going to be wicked. I love animals. D'you recon I could sleep in the zoo too?"

"Ummm… I suppose you could sleep in the hut but you wouldn't want to. There's no bed in there."

"Well, if there's a roof and four walls, it'll be better than I usually get."

"You sleeping on the streets?"

"Not anymore, now I'm sleeping in the hut." Vince beamed, quickly changing the subject "What's your boss called?"

"Mr Fossil."

"Nice?"

"Ummm, I'm not sure 'nice' is a word I'd use."

"So what is a word you'd use?"

"Interesting."

"Interesting? The international nice-guy word for 'horrible' or 'weird'" laughed Vince.

"Ummm, yeah." agreed Howard, laughing too.

"Ask him now." Vince urged "Go on please."

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Howard smiled, walking bravely to Fossil's office.

As Howard had expected, Bob Fossil was happy to take on a new keeper who'd work for the terrible pay that he offered. What Howard hadn't expected, was that Bob Fossil would sit him down in a chair, while the man in the too-tight blue suit pranced around, played a strange sort of air guitar (that looked more like air banjo), to a Rolling Stone's song.

_When I'm drivin' in my car  
And that man comes on the radio  
He's tellin' me more and more  
About some useless information  
Supposed to fire my imagination  
I can't get no, oh no no no  
Hey hey hey, that's what I say _

"And that's why 'I can't get no satisfaction' Moon." Fossil said stopping the tape.

"Right." Howard frowned, completely confused by what had happened.

"You can go now." Fossil said, sitting calmly back behind his desk and moving some papers around importantly. Just as Howard got to the door Fossil called "Oh and Moon. You'll have to spend the day showing your slave around. He can start work tomorrow. And you better get all your chores done too, Moon! I don't want you using this new kid as an excuse."

"Yes, Mr Fossil" sighed Howard, though secretly he was quite excited about showing Vince around the Zooniverse.

That evening, after Howard clocked off, he took Vince to the green hut that Vince would call home from now on. As they came around the corner, Vince came face to face with his past, "This hut?" Vince shuddered, the memories of the fire came flooding back to him.

"Yeah, you okay?" Howard asked softly.

"Yeah, yeah." Vince said, forcing a smile "It's just seeing it, you know. Just reminds me of… God I was a horrible kid." he sighed, brushing his fingers against the side of the hut.

"Come on" Howard said gently, gesturing Vince through the door.

The hut was small and cramped and there was a distinctly musty smell everywhere you went. There was a small kitchen on the right, a table on the left and a tiny brown sofa, which was taking up most of the floor space, in the middle.

"Wow!" breathed Vince "It's perfect! Is that a TV?" he asked excitedly, pointing at the tiny, old fashioned TV set in the corner of the room that looked like it had been made in the 50's. "I've never had a TV of my own before" he laughed, jumping on to the sofa and springing up and down in enjoyment. "Ooooo, bouncy!" he giggled.

"Get down, you'll break it." laughed Howard.

"Sorry." grinned Vince, stepping off the sofa and just standing there for a while before running to the kitchen.

"Oh look, a kettle, cooker, cupboards." he said opening them all until he found "Mmmm, biscuits." and took them off the top shelf. "What one?" he asked, through a mouthful of digestive.

"No thanks. I'll see if I can find you a sleeping bag."

"Thanks" Vince said, sinking into the sofa and cramming anotherbiscuit in to his mouth.

Howard reappeared a few minutes later, his arms full of blankets, dragging a sleeping bag behind him.

"I can't find any pillows." he explained apologetically, laying the sleeping bag out and folding up the blankets to create a sort of makeshift pillow. "Is this going to be okay for you?"

"It's perfect!" said Vince, moving to stand by Howard. "Thank you." he added, his voice sounding strained and muffled.

"Vince, are you crying?"

"No." Vince said, quickly wiping a tear from his eye. "It's just… I can't believe you've done all this for me. I mean, I'm practically a stranger."

"You're not a stranger." Howard reassured him "We're friends, right?"

"Right." Vince nodded, grinning like a child.

"Okay," said Howard glancing at his watch. "I've got to get going or my mum will be worried about me. My dad probably wont. I think he likes the peace he gets when I'm not there." Howard chuckled feebly.

"I'm sure that's not true."

"Mmm, well, you sure you're alright now?"

"I'm fine. Stop fretting." Vince smiled.

Howard smiled to and said "Alright then, I'll see you in the morning."

"Bye." Vince waved cheerfully as Howard slipped out through the door and went home.

**One more chapter to go! The end is nigh! Well I suppose, really, the beginning is nigh because this is all sorta leading up to where the episodes start. lol. I'm gonna stop rambling now.**

**Just to let everyone know:  
I don't claim to own (well, I might claim to, but I don't own) The Mighty Boosh or The Rolling Stones. I do, however, own two stick insects, called Axl and Slash - if anyone's interested.  
Thanks for reading!**

**Sisi…xx**


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Howard arrived early for work and was surprised to find Vince fast asleep in the ape enclosure.

"Oi." Howard called, shaking the sleeping boy's shoulders. "What are you doing in here, eh?" he asked as Vince sat up, rubbing his bleary eyes.

"I got a bit scared in the hut all by myself. There were lots of weird noises and I swear there's a ghost or something. So, I came in here for a chat with Bollo and I must've fallen asleep. It's quite comfy actually, I might sleep here tonight too."

"You can't do that!" exclaimed Howard

"Why not? Bollo doesn't mind, do you Bollo?"

Bollo grunted something in response.

"See. He doesn't mind."

"I can't understand him." Howard reminded Vince.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I can teach you to speak ape if you like." Vince added excitedly "It's the easiest of all the animal languages coz they're the most like humans."

Howard looked sceptical for a moment and then said "That does sound quite good actually but it doesn't mean you can sleep in here."

"Well I'm not sleeping in that hut." Vince said huffily "It's scary!"

"What if I was there?" Howard asked quietly.

The mods eyes widened with surprise and delight. "Well that wouldn't be so bad... but you've got a home."

"Not really. It's my parents house and I think my dad would quite like to see the back of me if I'm honest. This could be the perfect opportunity and I get to live with a friend."

"This is going to be fantastic!" cried Vince, leaping up to hug Howard. But the older boy was ready for it and took a step backwards

"Don't touch me." he warned.

"Sorry" Vince smirked.

"Aha" said a foreign voice, distracting them from their thoughts. "Mr Fossil told me to bring a zooniform (Bob Fossil insisted they call it that) down for the new employee. But I've only got one, I didn't realise there was two of you."

"Morning Mrs Gideon." Howard said cheerfully "But there is only one new person."

"But I don't recognise either of you."

"I've worked here for almost a year." Howard reminded her, ignoring the sniggers from Vince and Bollo.

"What's your name?"

"Howard, Howard Moon."

"I don't remember you. And who are you, with your fabulous hair?"

"I'm Vince."

"Hello Vince, would you like a jacket?"

"Not really." Vince said, screwing up his face "It's ugly."

Mrs Gideon laughed and passed him the plain green jacket.

At that moment an announcement came through the tinny sounding tanoy.

"Attention. There's been a break-in in the snake house. Lot's of tiny little snakes have broken into the pregnant snakes tank. It's anarchy in there. Anarchy!"

"Idiot." Mrs Gideon muttered under her breath. "Anyway, I have to go, it sounds like my python's given birth. I'll see you around I'm sure. Bye Vince. Bye…." she looked at Howard, trying desperately to remember his name but, after a few awkward moments she finished "Bye." and scurried off in the direction of the snake house.

"Bye Mrs Gideon." Howard called, waving after her.

Vince and Bollo exchanged a knowing glance.

"What?" Howard asked.

"Nothing." smirked Vince.

"No! What?"

"Well… d'you fancy her?" the smaller boy giggled.

"N-" Howard started before realising that if Vince thought he was in love with Gideon he was less likely to suspect Howard's feeling towards Vince. "Yes." Howard lied. "I love her. She's so sophisticated and… wonderful."

"Woah. You got it bad." Vince chuckled as he slipped the thin jacket around his thin shoulders. "Oh no." he groaned "I can't wear this! It's so plain. This jacket needs customising."

"It's fine as it is." Howard reassured him.

"Yeah right." Vince scorned, looking up to see Howard putting on his own zooniform. "Oh my god!" he cried dramatically "I look like you!"

"Thanks." frowned Howard.

"It's okay though, I think I've got a 'Kiss' army badge somewhere. And maybe I could sew 'Noir' by here." he said pointing at his lapel. "And I might buy a new zip too, this one's boring. What d'you think Bollo?"

Bollo growled deeply.

"Oooo, good idea." Vince agreed as the tanoy sounded and Bob Fossil's harsh voice ripped, yet again, through the peaceful morning.

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine dingbats. Work stars on 3. 5, 4, 3... You'd better be working... and that means you Moon. Oh and Moon, make sure your ugly girlfriend doesn't mess up. If she does it's on your head."

"Ugly!?" exclaimed Vince.

"He also called you a girl" Howard pointed out.

"I get called a girl all the time. I've _never _been called ugly." Howard could believe that, Vince _was_ gorgeous. He even looked gorgeous this morning when he was tired and his hair was full of straw. He was a mess, but it didn't matter, Vince was the most beautiful mess Howard had ever seen. His eyes were sparkling. His clothes were sparkling. _He_ was sparkling. He was so…

"Hey Howard." Vince said, snapping Howard out of his daydream. "Can you cover for me this morning? I _have _to customise this jacket before people see me?"

"Well, I…"

"Thanks Howard." Vince grinned, running off to the hut before Howard had time to stop him. As Vince disapeared through the door Howard heard a rather high pitched scream, followed by "**MY HAIR!!**"

--

Late that evening, (after a few problems with a rather devious llama, who kept disguising itself as various members of staff) the two boys led on the uncomfortable floor of the hut, in big thick sleeping bags, staring up at the ceiling.

"You were amazing today Howard!" Vince breathed, sounding genuinely impressed. "You were like king keeper. The only one in the entire zoo who knew how to calm it down. No one could get near that llama, Howard. Except you, you got off with it."

"It's the one of the few ways to calm a llama down."

"I bet Mrs Gideon was impressed and if not, I was. I know it's not the same but…" Howard wanted to tell Vince the truth. He wanted to say that he was much more interested in what Vince thought than Mrs Gideon, but he didn't have the guts, so he stayed silent. "D'you know what you reminded me of?" Vince continued.

"What?"

"Action man."

"I'm more a man of action than action man."

"Either way, it was cool." Vince yawned, rubbing his tired eyes.

"You tired, little man?"

'_Oh God_' thought Howard '_Little man, where had that come from?_' That's what Howard's favourite uncle used to call him when he was a kid. It was such an affectionate nickname but Vince just giggled.

"You're an action man, I'm a little man. We're the perfect duo."

"We are," agreed the older boy. "and tomorrow we're both signed up for the porpoise derby."

"Mmm," Vince agreed sleepily "M'gonna beat you."

"You will not."

"Will. M'lighter." Vince murmured and Howard could tell he was close to sleep now, so he whispered.

"Night Vince."

"Night How"-yawn-"ard. See you in the morning."

Howard dreamt of his future in the zoo. He was going to show Vince everything about the zoo. He'd make sure Vince was safe. He'd find Tommy. He'd be the best zoo keeper there ever was. Everything would be fantastic.

Vince dreamt about being the greatest rock star of all time. Howard could play instruments, he could be part of the group. And until then, Howard would teach him stuff, like how to calm llama's down and not to shake with newts. He liked Howard, he _really_ liked Howard - it was just a shame that Howard so in love with Mrs Gideon.

And Bollo? Well, he dreamt of Banana's.

* * *

**I'm not really happy with the ending but I'm not really sure what to do, I am thinking of changing it though. Any advise would be VERY much appreciated and all idea's will be taken on board.**

**Just hit that lil' submit review button - go on, you know you want to! - and just let me know what you think! It doesn't even have to be long shakes head I'm not greedy (well I am, hense the begging, but still...)!!**

**Anyway…  
****Thank you to everyone who's read this story and thank you to absolutely everyone who's reviewed!! You're all wonderful!! And loved muchly by me and Swedish Monks.****Sisi…xx**


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